Herbal remedies used by asthmatic children in Iran

Abstract

Introduction: Asthma is a very common chronic disease among children. As for its treatment, in recent years there is an increased tendency towards supplemental treatments. Hence, many of these patients are administered complementary and alternative treatments including herbal medicine.Methods:Through a cross-sectional study, we evaluated the common herbal remedies used in asthmatic children referred to the allergy clinic of Sarvar Children’s Hospital in Mashhad. All data related to the patients (i.e., age, sex, and history of all remedies consumed as well as the responsible persons prescribing the pertinent medications) were recorded in a checklist.Results: In this study, 582 asthmatic children with the average age of 77.4±41.7 months were evaluated. The overall herbal remedies usage was 59.8%. There was no significant differences between age groups, sex, or asthma severity and herbal remedy usage. Thirty-seven different herbal remedies were prescribed to the patients, the most common herb was thymes (65.3%) followed by a four-seed herbal mixture (23.6%), Plantago major (12%) and Cydonia oblonga (quince) (10.8%).Conclusion:Limited information is available regarding complementary and alternative medicine in asthmatic children in Iran. The present study showed the high prevalence of herbal medicine usage in asthmatic children in this region. Hence, further studies should determine the clinical benefits of these remedies

Keywords

• asthma
• children
• herbal treatment
• alternative medicine